Relatives say Aaron Roby wasn't a fighter. He was a quiet guy who didn't run the streets and didn't go to clubs or bars. You were more apt to find him at his Terrytown apartment playing cards with friends or inviting most of his neighbors over for his generous barbecues.

"That's why this is such a shock to everybody," Roby's mother, Latricia Bryant, said Monday afternoon as she sat on her son's couch, still trying to process the news of his murder Sunday night. "Aaron never started any confusion."

Roby, 26, was shot several times in the courtyard of his apartment at 250 Holmes Blvd., Terrytown. Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies found him lying behind building No. 10 at 9:56 p.m.

Relatives said Roby left his wallet, his cell phone and a plate of food on the couch. Someone lured Roby out of his apartment and to his death, they said. The Sheriff's Office has said Roby was speaking with an unidentified man in the courtyard just before gunshots rang out.

Family members said the gunman was a friend of a resident who was still offended by of a previous encounter with Roby. "It was a senseless crime," Bryant said. "It didn't make no sense at all."

Roby grew up in Terrytown, one of six brothers. He was a neat and quiet child, his mother said. "He was always helpful," Bryant said. "He did whatever he could do to help out."

Bryant said Roby began working in the commissary at the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse. He started as a stocker, was promoted to night supervisor and then project manager for CW Resources, the company that holds the janitorial and shelf-stocking contract with the air station.

"He was a bright, energetic leader," said Roby's supervisor, Kurt Lux, who described him as an intelligent young man who had a bright future. "He wanted to better himself so he could better his family. He spoke about going back to school."

Lux called Roby's death a huge loss. "It hurts. I told his parents they should be extremely proud of the young man they raised," he said.

Bryant said her son leaves behind two sons, ages 6 and 1. He is also survived by his father, Jerome Bryant, two aunts, two uncles and a host of cousins.

Now, Roby won't be able to watch his children grow up, and they won't have their father to look up to, Latricia Bryant said. "They shot my son in the face," she grieved. "He didn't deserve that. You don't do even do that to an animal."

Anyone with information about the murder of Aaron Roby is asked to call the Sheriff's Office investigations bureau at 504.364.5300. The public can also call Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll-free at 877.903.7867. Tips can be texted to C-R-I-M-E-S (274637); text TELLCS then the crime information. Callers or texters do not have to give their names or testify and can earn a $2,500 reward for information that leads to an indictment.